


Some thing never change

by Zoya113



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Child Emma, F/M, Paul is a mothers boy & u can’t tell me otherwise, also Emma was a bully, child paul
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:13:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22893880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoya113/pseuds/Zoya113
Summary: Emma mentions something that brings back some childhood memories for Paul
Relationships: Paul Matthews/ Emma Perkins
Kudos: 81





	Some thing never change

‘Paul, I’m out the front u wanna come hop in the car so we can get going?? Reservation is @ 6 & the movie starts around 7’ Emma text Paul, glancing out the front windshield to see if there was any movement at the front door.

‘On my way out now hun :)!! Just saying bye to my parents, good job driving here!” Paul replied shortly. 

‘U know I’m not incompetent @ driving right tho babe I just don’t like doing it hurry up and get out here so I can get out of the drivers seat tho’ Emma put her phone away. She was hopping out of the drivers seat when the door opened and she winced. Now she’d have to come and say hello and apologise again for not ever having the time to properly meet Paul’s parents. 

Paul stepped out, still chatting with his mother who was just behind him, nodding along to his ramblings until she saw Emma. 

“Hello, Emma!” She called to her, beckoning her over.

Emma made a few sheepish paces closer, swinging her hands by her side. “Hi, miss Matthews.” 

“Oh darling, no need to be so formal. How are you?” She put a hand on Paul’s back. 

Paul always wore a stupidly wide smile whenever Emma spoke to his mother, like his two favourite people were in the same room at once. 

“I‘m alright, how are you?” 

“Oh I can’t complain! Where are you two off to tonight?” 

Quite honestly, she liked Paul’s mum a lot. She never imposed herself or was too overly energetic, she gave Paul his independence but remained involved with his life. “Dinner and a movie. It’s that new one down at the cinema, this pirate film,” Emma nodded. “I’ve always been really into pirates, I don’t know why,” she chuckled bashfully at her attempt to justify herself. “But we’d better be off.” 

“Ah-“ something looked like it had just clicked in his mother’s eyes, and her smile twitched into something wider. She glanced back between Paul and Emma like she was expecting something had clicked for them too, before placing on hand on her hip. “Goodness gracious, tell me if I’m just making this up, but have you two ever met each other before you met at work?”

“Uh, she was in that performance of Brigadoon I saw!” Paul pointed out cheerfully. 

His mother purses her lips shut, looking Emma up and down with an odd laugh. “Maybe I’m just dreaming this. But Paul, do you remember that day when you were little and I picked you up from school because you were getting stressed?”

“How old was I?” Paul tilted his head. 

“You were just a little boy, five! And you really weren’t liking going to school just yet!” She laughed fondly at the memory. “I picked you up an hour before school ended and took you to the park. Remember?”

“Oh yeah!” Paul nodded all of a sudden. “I remember we went to the one near Oakleigh and- oh my god!” He turned to Emma with the same ‘something’s clicked’ expression.

Emma’s eyes shot back and forth between the two, raising an eyebrow and gripping the car keys between her fingers uncomfortably as her hands came to rest on her hips

“Emma!” Paul started, one hand on her back. “Do you remember what we’re talking about?” 

Emma shook her head. 

“Ah, it’s okay mum. I’ll explain it to her. We’ve got to go catch that movie. I’ll talk to you next week!” He hugged her goodbye before walking Emma back to the car. 

“Okay, what are you two talking about?” 

“Emma, we’ve met before! I swear it was you, there aren’t many other Emma’s on this island! It was in the playground, remember? We were kids!”

Emma just laughed and shrugged. “What do you mean? How could you have met me?” 

Paul still couldn’t recount the story properly enough for her to figure out what he was talking about. 

“Just tell me the whole thing, Paul.” 

———————————————————

Sometimes, school wasn’t as fun as it usually is. 

Sometimes the teachers want to play loud games or play in groups, and Paul can’t stand it. 

He tries to sit in with his classmates, but inevitably, he would cry and get sent home to calm down. It wasn’t his fault his classmates were so rowdy. But at least mum would take him to the park so he could play in it on his own before school ended and all the other kids came. 

He liked to climb up to the top of the kiddy tower and look down through the holes in the platform. “Mum!” He called out. “Can you see me?”

“Yes! I can see you, Paul!” She smiled back at him. “Are you alright up there?” 

“Yes!” He yelled back. 

“Okay, well we have to go home soon, so don’t have too much fun!” She laughed. 

Paul grinned, crawling through the blue, plastic tunnel into another box. “I’m in here!” He cupped his hands around his mouth to amplify his shout to his mother so she would know where he was. 

“I know, I can see you Paul! I’m going to go sit down on the bench over there, okay? I’ll wait right there for you!” 

He giggled, his voice high with joy. Now he could crawl through the whole tower, even where his mother couldn’t see him. 

Paul climbed up another level, breathing in near the holes in the platforms because he didn’t like the smell of the air really.  
It smelled like old food and rotten apples. 

The top level of the play tower was much smaller. It only had about three platforms but it had a clear, plastic bowl he could crawl into and see the whole park from. It was like a space ship.

He turned the corner from platform one to platform two, and nearly squealed when he came face to face with a girl.

“What’re you doing here?” She asked, adjusting her position so she could sit properly in the plastic bowl. 

He didn’t know anyone else was in the playground. His mother hadn’t said anything about that! And she was in the plastic bowl, he wanted a turn! “What’re you doing in the space ship?” He asked. 

“No. This is the crow’s nest,” she shook her head. “And this is my pirate ship you’re in!” She tried to crawl out from the bowl but she was a lot smaller than him, and her feet slipped, sliding her back down to the centre. 

“Shouldn’t you be at school?” He asked. Children didn’t get out until 3:30, but it was only 2:45.

She shrugged. “Pirates don’t go to school. D’you wanna join my crew?” 

“You’re very small if you really are a pirate.” 

The girl scoffed, brushing a hand across her red, freckled cheeks. “Well I am!” 

“Well, why aren’t you at pirate school?” He asked instead, the girl rolled her eyes and looked away. “Okay. Pirates don’t go to school, that’s what you said.”

“What’s in your backpack?” She asked, reaching out to try and grab it off his back.

Paul smacked her hand away with a gasp. He grabbed the straps of his bag. “This is mine, you aren’t allowed to touch it.” 

“I’m a pirate, I steal,” she told him. “What’s in there?” 

“My lunch.” Paul didn’t like this girl. She reminded him of the bullies from school. “Stop touching me.” 

“Can I have it?” She crawled out of the bowl successfully this time, eyeing up his bag and licking her lips. 

“No. It’s my food.” 

She grimaced. “Then you have get out of my pirate ship.” 

Paul had come to the park now for that exact reason, he wanted to avoid all the other kids telling him what to do.  
He crawled out of the top level, moving back down to one he figured was safe. There was a panel with a hole in it he could poke his head through so he could see his mother down below.

“Hey mom?” He called out.

“Yes Paul?” 

“There’s a girl up there,” he pointed up at the level above him. 

His mother’s jaw dropped, and she looked around the park for any other parents. “How old is she, sweetheart?”

Paul shrugged. “She’s my age I think.”

“Where are her parents?” 

“Um,” the girl hadn’t said anything about her parents. “She’s a pirate. I don’t know if she has any.” 

“Can you tell her to come down here, Paul?” 

He sighed. He didn’t really want to see her again. “Okay, mom.” So he made his way back up to the top level. “Excuse me, pirate?” He didn’t step any further than the first platform. 

“What are you doing back here?” She snapped, crawling through the boxes to meet him. 

“Um, my mom wants me to bring you down so she can talk to her.” 

She made a strange face that Paul didn’t understand. “No.”

“My mum said so though. She has some food if you want it.” 

“Oh, okay!” She scooted past Paul, shooting down onto the level below and moving faster than Paul could keep up. 

He grunted, sliding back down through the tower after her to try and catch up.  
He dropped down onto the tanbark and ran after her. 

“Hello!” His mother was already kneeling down besides her. 

“Do you have food?” She asked. 

Paul came up to grab his mother’s hand, making an angry face at the girl.

His mother laughed at the girl’s words. “Who’re you, young lady?” She asked as she reached into her handbag. 

“A pirate,” she answered. “Can I have something to eat?” 

His mother handed her a packet of fruit flavoured gummies and apple slices, and the girl ripped in to wolf them down before his mother could ask her anything else. 

“Where are your parents?” She tried to ask.

“At home,” she spoke through her mouthful of food. 

“How old are you?”

“Five.”

“And why aren’t you at school? Do your parents know where you are?” 

She wiped her lips, bothered with all the questions. “My mom usually walks me to school with my sister but she got sick, so mom is looking after her. So there’s no one to make me go to school.”

“So you’ve been sitting here all day?” 

She nodded, turning the packaging inside out for any more food. “It’s okay. I’ve been playing.”

“Little girl, what’s your name?” 

“Emma,” she stood up on the tips of her toes to dump the packaging in the bin, turned around to survey the park and then tried to run back off to the tower.

“Uh, Emma! Come back here please! Where are you going?” 

Emma turned around on her heels to stare at Paul’s mother. “What?”

“Would you like to come and sit down?  
Do you know how to get home?”  
She stepped forward to Emma but Paul clung to his mother’s hand and dug his heels in. He didn’t like that girl. 

Emma nodded. “Yeah, but I’m fine. I wanna stay here.” 

“When are you going to go home, little Emma?” 

She shrugged, her eyes glancing elsewhere. “My dad is gonna come pick me up from the park when school is over.” 

“And you’ve been here all day?” His mother asked her.

Paul whined, tugging his mother’s hand. “Mom, I don’t know her.” 

“Well how about you play with her while I wait for her father to come? She’s your age, darling,” she placed a light hand on Paul’s back. “Go on.”

“No!” He shook his head, hugging his mother’s leg. “I don’t wanna, she’s mean!” 

“I don’t wanna play. I’m hungry. Do you have anything else to eat?” She snuck back up to her, her tiny hands reaching up for his mother’s purse.

“Stop!” Paul raised his voice, hiding behind his mother’s legs.

“Paul, let’s be nice, okay?” His mother sat down so she could talk to both children. “Emma, why don’t you sit down with us while we wait?” She grabbed her hand lightly so she wouldn’t run off again. 

“I want to play before I have to go home,” Emma explained, pointing at the tower. 

“Well you can play when you get home can’t you? Are you thirsty? Do you need something to drink?” His mother offered, rubbing her thumb over Emma’s hand. 

“Mum!” Paul snapped, smacking his mother’s hand off of Emma’s and kicking up the tanbark below his shoes. “I don’t wanna play with her!” 

“Ooh, Paul, sweetheart,” she grabbed his quivering hands, lifting him up onto her lap. “Calm down, it’s okay. Just breathe alright? We’re just being kind and giving her a hand, can you do that with me?” 

He crossed his arms with a whine and pouted his lips, but he nodded. He loved helping his mother.

But when she looked for Emma again the girl had bolted back off to the playground.  
“Oh goodness,” she put a hand to her forehead, a little exasperated. 

This girl wasn’t his responsibility. His mother shouldn’t be worrying about her, she was a stranger and you aren’t supposed to talk to strangers. “Let’s go home. I don’t want to play anymore.” 

“Do you think you could wait a moment Paul? We’ll just wait for her dad to pick her up so she gets home safely. If I can just get her to sit still.” 

“Let’s just go home. She said her dad is coming and school is gonna be over soon so he’ll come get her!” He insisted, why did they have to wait for her? She was uprooting everything.

“Paul, let’s be nice okay?” 

He grunted, sticking out his lower lip and stomping through the tanbark as he went to go collect the pirate girl again. “Pirate!” He called up, his voice echoing in the play tunnel. 

“What?” She stuck her head down from the second floor, her ponytail falling into her eyes. 

“You’re supposed to stay with my mom! She wants to say hi to you!” 

She shook her head. “Nope. My dad says not to talk to strangers. If she wants to talk with me that badly she has to wait until my dad gets here.” 

“She just wants to meet you!” Paul stomped his foot, getting angry. He wasn’t allowed to disobey his mother, so why was she? 

“Tell her to wait! I’ll meet her later!” She crawled down onto the first platform again to look Paul in the eyes, and it made his skin tingle so he looked away. 

Outside, parents were starting to arrive to collect their children. She must’ve noticed too because she winced and frowned and slipped right by Paul.

“Thanks for playing with me,” she told him as she skipped down, dropping onto the tanbark and bolting off, kicking it up underneath her shoes. She threw her hand up into that of an older man’s but he didn’t accept it. He patted her on the back to get her walking, but Paul’s mother stopped. 

“Are you Emma’s father?” She asked. 

“Who’s asking? What’s she done now?” 

And before his mother could answer he saw Emma’s eyes go white with fear and she tugged at her father’s leg to get him to just keep walking, but he stood firm. She looked terrified for some reason, and that made Paul anxious.

“Mom!” He called out. He didn’t know why, maybe to get her away from him or maybe because that girl looked so frightened that he was scared too. 

“Oh, sorry, can you excuse me? What’s wrong Paul?” She left the tall man to come back over to him and he wrapped his arms around her legs, watching Emma and her father walk away. 

“I’m all done playing in the park now. Let’s go home.” 

———————————————————

Emma still didn’t seem to understand the story, like parts of it weren’t clicking. “I dunno Paul. No bells ringing. I did that every time Jane was sick.” 

“You don’t remember?” He leaned back in his chair as he waited to turn, trying to gauge her reaction. “We played together! Well, sort of.” 

“Nah, babe. I don’t remember. I mean, sounds like something I would do, but it sounds like that wouldn’t have ended very well for me. It’s probably locked up and repressed somewhere,” she joked, elbowing him across the console of the car. “Man. I still love pirates. I never changed, huh?” 

“Oh totally,” he caught a look at her as he turned the car, grinning teasingly. “Just like how you still won’t come and meet my mother properly.” 

“Paul!” She gaped, swatting him and stomping her foot on the floor. “Oh my god!” She laughed in the end, her face flushed with embarrassment. “Don’t even!” 

“Hey, I guess some things just never change.”


End file.
